A Streets-Level Review of the Gold Line Eastside Extension

(Editor’s note. Some people are asking why there isn’t more on the bike amenities at the station. The Source did such a good job on the lockers and racks issue that we didn’t think it was necessary. Read their review here. )

As many of you know, the Gold Line Eastside Extension is scheduled to open on Sunday stretching from the Little Tokyo Arts District to Atlantic Boulevard in Monterey Park. Because of some controversy over the safety measures taken by Metro, a team of six cyclists including myself, Carlos Morales, Renee Morales, Browne Molyneux, Steven Frein, and Andrew Didia headed out to check out the new stations, and the area around them, for ourselves. Andrew deserves some sort of prize for doing the ride on his birthday. Browne’s review of the ride will be available on The Bus Bench next week.

Overall, we had a favorable impression of the future Gold Line and see how it will be a boon for the communities through which it passes. However, there were some safety concerns we had, especially at the Little Tokyo and Indiana Stations.

For the record, we’re going to set-aside the issue of whether or not stations should be grade-separated with the exception of Indiana Station. Indiana is the first station not separated after the two that are.

Also, I timed every intersection to see if the timing was appropriate for pedestrians to get across the street. The farther east that we went, the worse the signal timing was. Our recommendation is that the city or Metro should do a study of all the crossing times at these intersections and re-time several of them. In the meantime, the short signals on the east are going to create pedestrian/car conflicts.

There was also a general concern that there are no gates separating the trains from the pedestrian crossings. For a pedestrian crossing the street, the site of a train coming at them, even if it stops, with nothing between them is a daunting one. Without gates, pedestrians are in a more vulnerable position.

Last, we didn’t look at the intersection from a driver’s perspective. If that’s what you’re looking for, call AAA.

We also noticed that there were workers installing signs and doing cleaning at every stations. Some stations had power tools and even construction materials. The best analogy I can give is that Metro is acting like I did in college when I was cramming for exams at the last second. Maybe Sunday is too soon to open?

You can read our station by station review after the jump after a surprise impromptu interview with Los Angeles City Councilman and Metro Board Member Jose Huizar who happened to be giving an interview to a Metro camera person at Mariachi Plaza. For all of my pictures, check out the LA Streetsblog Flickr pool. Before the jump, let’s here from Councilman Huizar on the state of the $4.5 million that the Metro Board put towards safety improvements along the Eastside Extension.

[audio:http://la.streetsblog.org/wp-content/pdf/VN520032.mp3]

Honest question, if all the safety improvements aren’t going to be done for a couple of months, why are we opening the station in two days?

We began the ride at Union Station and headed South to the Little Tokyo Station, where we had a series of concerns with the pedestrian crossing at Alameda and Temple Street.

For pedestrians going east on the North side of the street, a wall creates a blind intersection for trains traveling South. Mercifully, the tracks that are running feet from the crossings are going north so the pedestrian does have some space.

However, for everyone walking along the east side of the station, the northbound rail cars travel feet from you at all times. You can literally reach out and touch the cars as they go past.

On the south side of the intersection, there is a pedestrian island separating the station from the street for pedestrians. Unfortunately, the island is only a couple of feet wide. A group of people standing on the island could easily spill out into the rail area. Worse, a family, with the parents looking forward, could easily miss someone behind them taking a step backwards into the tracks.

As a whole, that intersection needs improvements. Widening the island or using pedestrian gates to help keep people off the tracks are two solutions. No matter what, this intersection is going to need some help.

The good news is this intersection was one of the worst we saw the entire trip. I was a little worried when we had so many complaints from the first intersection we saw…

The intersection at the South side of the station was an improvement, although trains taking a right from first onto Alameda again cross so very close to the sidewalk. There is another pedestrian island, but this time it’s a much larger island.

It should be noted that both crossings had flashing "train approaching" signs along with wide, brick crosswalks and yellow uneven entrances to the crossings so vision impaired pedestrians have a warning before crossing the tracks or a street. All of these amenities appeared at every intersection affected by the Gold Line.

From there we traveled east to the Pico/Aliso Station in Boyle Heights.

This hard hat had plenty of times to cross the six lanes of traffic and transit. </sarcasm>

At Pico/Aliso a charter school faces the North side of the station, which apparently is one of the main reasons the station was put where it was according to Councilman Huizar. The Pedestrian island was larger, and riders were happy that the walk/don’t walk signals were facing the people coming off the trains as well as those at the crosswalks. Already, we were confronted with north/south crosswalks that were under-timed.

Maybe we were distracted because the staff on hand at this station were the only ones that let us get up into the station of the raised ones. From where we were standing, the intersections looked good.

We continued on first street down First Street to Mariachi Plaza. The station itself blends beautifully with the iconic architecture around the plaza. It looks great and enhances the plaza area. Good work, architects. Sadly, there were no mariachi’s present at the time of our arrival. Instead, we had Councilman and Board Member Huizar.

That’s Browne, not the Councilman

Generally, we found both ground level stations for below-level rail to have adequate amenities. Many of the problems that we note at stations are caused by adding a third mode of transit to an already busy street. As I said earlier, we don’t intend to make the argument that the line needs to be built below grade. From a safety standpoint, it can’t be a coincidence that the stations we felt most comfortable and safe around were the same ones that didn’t have the train running on the street. Even the crossing signal times seemed adequate.

Our next stop was Soto Station.

Soto station through steel.

Soto station has a huge plaza surrounding the station, but is sort of charmless. Especially after the beauty of Mariachi Plaza, the giant empty plaza surrounded by fence architecture style seemed more like a prison than a transit stop.

Of course, by Sunday the fence should be down and according to some the plaza will be full of street vendors. At the south side of the station were some benches so we assume that there’s going to be something for those sitting to do in the rest of the plaza. The layout of the station plaza reminded me of the Santa Monica/Vermont Station on the Red Line, and that station features a handful of street vendors selling hats, sunglasses, and food.

From there, we returned to at-grade stations stopping at Indiana.

Fencing on the far side

Overall, the traffic flow made the station inhospitable and that was before adding the light rail. The sidewalks leading into the station along First Street were narrow. They actually had fencing up to keep pedestrians from wandering in the streets at places.

Our first reaction was, "why isn’t this station built below grade?" The poor quality of the street and sidewalks had us concerned. When you add in the experience our friends at Curbed had here a couple of months ago, and there are larger problems.

The light rail, not at-grade again, comes down first and turns right into Indiana station. After traveling south through the station, it then takes another right onto third.

In the middle of the station, passengers have the option to cross the tracks to get to the center island or to get back onto the street by crossing through a series of gates that you can push open. True, there are large flashing lights when a train is coming, but at the least this crossing should be below or above grade and the fences should be closed. Having gates that can be opened that easily is a recipe for disaster.

However, there’s a larger issue with this station that would be best addressed by bringing in some progressive transportation engineers and changing the character of the three streets, First, Third and Indiana, that surround the station. Even with large crosswalks, the area had a bad feeling to it, with traffic racing along the street and trains moving through the station just feet from the sidewalks.

Our next stop was the Maravilla Station. The station itself, like the other raised stations at Pico/Aliso and the two that end the line, are located in the street so pedestrians have to cross the street to get to the station. It seems that at all of these stations there is going to be conflict between pedestrians trying to get to the station and catch a train and cars, who may have a green light at the time, not looking for them.

Of particular interest at this station was the bike parking. I’m standing in a circle with racks and lockers. The Christmas tree is the start of the station. See any issues?

Another note is that it was nigh impossible for seniors that we saw to cross Third all the way. A pedestrian trying to get across from the north to the south might miss a train while jogging across the street, even with the signs. Especially with the giant Christmas tree.

From here we moved the East L.A. Civic Center. The Civic Center stop is going to have the same issues as the others with a mid-street station, but other than that we found the crosswalks to be wide and the signals to be strong. A wide street again creates an issue for pedestrians. Maybe the city should have a task force to address pedestrian signal timing around the stations?

For our car driving friends. Be careful making a left out of the Eastside Civic Center. The train is partially blocked.

Our last stop is the Atlantic Station, where the crosswalk signalization problem kicked into over-drive. Because each intersection had a series of islands, there were times were it would take over five minutes to cross the street, and that was for Browne who is young and healthy. A senior might well just give up on crossing altogether.

It may be the end of the line, but our friend the bus moves forward.

On the east side of the station, you actually have to cross a lane of traffic to get to a signal-call box. I’ve never seen that before.

From there, we got back on our bikes and headed west toward Little Tokyo and Union Station. To summarize our views and impressions:

1) The Gold Line is going to be a positive for the community. The route was well chosen.

2) Our general concerns with the intersection timing should be addressed across the line by LADOT

3) Metro doesn’t seem ready for the opening. There was work being done on every station, and sometimes it involved construction equipment. Maybe by tomorrow it will all be fine, but today it seems not yet ready.

4) There still needs to be a lot of work done around Indiana Station. The crossing within the station should also be improved somehow.

5) The intersections around Little Tokyo also need to be addressed. The one at the North side of the station seems particularly dangerous.

6) First could use a bike lane. It’s wide enough and it’s a good idea to combine modes.

I just rode my bike along the route and to partake in opening day festivities. Honestly I think pedestrians should be worried more about cars. I am glad the line is here as it gives me a new way to explore our beautiful city. I encourage all you nay sayers and NIMBYists to go enjoy our transportation and stay away from the cars…cause they are the real killers.

During our safety bike ride to review this train line from a bike/pedestrian stand point, two things really stood out to me as far as safety. The first is the pedestrian crosswalk at the Little Tokyo Station. When a pedestrians are walking in the crosswalk there is a section where you can get trapped between cars traveling northbound on Alameda and the South bound train traveling only a couple of feet behind you, with no safety rails or fences you are literally standing in a dangerous island. Also at the same station a Northbound train at the intersection of 1st and Alameda comes very close to pedestrians waiting at the curb crosswalk as it makes a right turn, we took photos of how close the train gets to the curb, I am worried about families with kids who often break free from parents hands grasps and the train traveling so close to them (only an arms reach away).

The other and probably the most dangerous aspect of the line is the 1st street and Indiana intersection which transition to 3rd street. It is very tight, and can be confusing for people not being traffic flow savvy and I agree with Damien the signal timing is way off. Terry Marquez mentioned that both Jose Huizar and Gloria Molina have been notified of the communities concerns at several public meetings.

Today, I attended the Grand Opening of the Gold Line Extension and Councilmember Jose Huizar re-stated to the community what he told Damien and I; that there will be continued improvements to this train line which includes fencing and railing along the route and he thanked LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s for keeping persistent on this issue. We only hope that no one gets hurt mean while these safety improvements are implemented.

It was pretty exciting to see a new chapter in the Eastside community’s history. Today was a good day!

Thank you Damien, for organizing this safety bike ride and all others who joined us and gave their input.

M

I admit I’ve only read to reply 20 or so, but I thought these images might be interesting. They were taken last year near the Del Mar Gold Line station in Pasadena, which is commonly known as a comparatively pedestrian friendly city in the LA area. These are right across the street from the Del Mar station on the street I and many other regular Gold Line patrons walk each day.

The sign says “Sidewalk Closed, use other side of the street”

The other side of the street. You can barely see the sign from the previous picture in the background of this photo

This was the situation for at least a month or 2 and they are a result of some “transit oriented” developments being constructed near the train station. As something that was supposed to be friendly for those riding the train, these were some pretty bad conditions and this is just a small snapshot of the resulting difficulties (open trenches, jackhammers being used, people using leaf blowers and ignoring pedestrians and blowing dirt directly onto them).

As someone who rides the Red Line every day from Universal City Station and must walk past one of many freeway entrances/exits on pedestrian pathways leading from the station to the areas nearby where at least once a week I am nearly hit by a car speeding onto the freeway, it makes me wonder how far from the train stations we should be looking for “safety hazards” and if we continue outward in all directions that we will continue to find problems because in general the problem is a general pattern of behavior in LA, not just a train stop. A little bit further up the street pictured above, one of my friends was walking and was hit by a car earlier this year and sustained major injuries. As far as you look, I think you’ll find hazards of behavior patterns all throughout the city.

This part struck me: “The station itself…is located in the street so pedestrians have to cross the street to get to the station. …At all of these stations there is going to be conflict between pedestrians trying to get to the station and catch a train and cars, who may have a green light at the time, not looking for them.”

And yet we will build the Expo line and the Broadway streetcar the same way – with the pedestrian having to cross auto traffic in order to board a train. It doesn’t have to be built this way. In Portland. OR, the transit rider boards at the curb, not in the middle of the street. But when this issue is brought up at public meetings, it falls on deaf ears.

Slightly off topic, but if anyone is attending the meeting next week of Mr. Goopdmon’s group Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line could you take a camera phone and post a photo? Just curious what sort of turnout this gets…

I concur that the one station I have experienced, the Little Tokyo stop, is terrifying–an accident waiting to happen. Compared to the safety of the Pasadena portion of the line it is a disaster. It is also shocking to me that the city did not do more, such as installing pedestrian gates — when someone is killed at this intersection, whether by train or by car, the negligent design lawsuit is going to cost so much more than the safety improvements would have. Not only that, but a good lawyer will point to the safety designs in the older parts of the line as evidence that the city knew how to build it safer, and knew it was necessary, but went ahead and skimped here–with the cost being people’s lives.

Anyone who thinks the critics are just unduly safety conscious should take a walk through the intersections at rush hour, then come back and share their thoughts.

Although I grew up in LA, I have lived in San Francisco for many years. We have large, sometimes double, cars from Breda traveling on many streets. Many of the stops are indeed right in the middle of the street without even a platform to separate people getting on and off from traffic, for example on the J Church and L Taraval lines. And many of the intersections the LRVs travel through lack traffic lights and walk signals; some are just 4-way stops that the train must stop for as well. Obviously most of our system is quite old and does not have the myriad “safety improvements” (although I prefer to call them “stupidity preventers”) that so many of you are agitating for and wanting to waste precious transit resources on. Believe it or not, we’re all still here, not being mowed down by the evil monsters and living to see another day. Are the people in my home town so feeble-minded that they can’t simply treat these trains like any other vehicle to look out for when crossing, just like cars or buses? Really, it’s not that hard!!

wiyum

The intersection of Atlantic and Pomona Boulevards is not located in Monterey Park. It is in East Los Angeles.

I agree that the line comes close to pedestrian areas and can be overwhelming at times, but I also think that people need to be a bit more vigilant. We have a beautiful new line. Let’s continue to improve upon it so we can continue to be proud.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Image: Metro.net Two weeks from today, November 13, a group of activists will pedal out from Union Station for points east to see for ourselves whether the soon-to-be-opened Gold Line East Side Extension passes our safety check. The extension will open two days later on the fifteenth. The ride is currently supported by L.A. Streetsblog, […]

A group of activists will pedal out from Union Station for points east to see for ourselves whether the soon-to-be-opened Gold Line East Side Extension passes our safety check. The extension will open two days later on the fifteenth. The ride is currently supported by L.A. Streetsblog, the Bus Bench and the L.A. Eastside Bike […]

The Gold Line crosses the L.A. River and heads toward Indiania on First Street within City Limits. During our ride on Friday, Steven Frien wondered a couple of times why there wasn’t talk of having a bicycle lane on 1st Street running parallel to the Gold Line on First Street . Later in the day, […]

Better days: Molina, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, Villaraigosa, Former Metro CEO Roger Snoble, and Board Member Pam O’Connor at the Eastside Extension Groundbreaking. Photo: Metro Library (Editor’s note: Originally, this was going to be a post written by Dana Gabbard about Metro placing their public Gold Line Eastside Extension documents online. As I was writing the […]

Bailey WEB In November of 2009, I took a bike ride with Carlos Morales and other members of the Eastside Bike Club, not to be confused with the Eastside Riders, and Browne Molyneux of the Bus Bench to explore the bicycle and pedestrian access to the Gold Line’s about-to-be-opened Eastside Extension. During the ride, we […]

The start date is now November 15. Metro’s planning a party. Photo: Randall Fleming Metro has finally announced the opening day of the Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension, which is Sunday August 15th The announcement states "Free rides on the entire Metro Gold Line from Pasadena to East Los Angeles will be […]